New Delhi: Amid the challenges of paddy stubble burning and air pollution in Delhi- NCR region, the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Delhi has developed a high-yielding short-duration variety namely Pusa-2090 which will help in dealing with the menace.
Generally, the paddy crop which is transplanted in June is ready for harvest only towards late October. This leaves very little time for farmers to prepare their fields to sow the next wheat crop. Therefore, they resort to burning the stubble. The new paddy variety is an improved version of currently used Pusa-44. Pusa-2090 variety matures in only 120 to 125 days as compared to Pusa-44 which takes 155 to 160 days to mature. The new paddy variety will give around 30 days time to farmers to ready their fields for the next crop. Talking to Akashvani News, IARI scientist, Prolay Kumar Bhowmick highlighted the advantage of Pusa 2090 expressing confidence that it will help in checking the menace of stubble burning.
